Have you noticed the change in the light? The sun is already much lower in the sky at noon. Even though it still feels like Summer, the Equinox is upon us so get ready for what is known in Seattle as the season of Rain, also known as the season of Dark. Years ago my friend Jules commented that she missed the “real” seasons of Montana. I countered that we have seasons here, but she replied, ‘Inga, mold is not a season.’ That still makes me chuckle whenever I think of it.

September 22nd is the Autumnal Equinox: The day the Sun enters Libra and the beginning of Autumn. In the same way that the Solstice marks the days of longest and shortest “light,” the Equinoxes mark the day of equal light. Nox is the Roman goddess of night so equinox literally means “equal night.” The glyph for Libra represents the setting sun expressing the balance between night and day. According to tradition, the Sun is “exalted” in Aries while halfway through its circuit along the ecliptic, it is in “fall” in Libra, Aries’ opposite sign.

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I was privileged to attend the Avery Coonley School for a number of years and one of our traditions was the May Pole dance. The fifth graders got to demonstrate the weaving of the maypole ribbons as part of the Spring Fair celebration in front of the reflecting pool. It was a fun, boisterous affair and the tipsy Maypole in the picture is exactly how I remember ours ending up. :)

All things considered, I preferred the solemn Thanksgiving festival at the opposite end of the year, when we would march in procession through the auditorium (the archway in the pic) by class, with each class singing a different song or hymn, every student wearing matching brown cloaks and each carrying fruits or vegetables of some kind, that would be added to a Cornucopia display on the stage, and given to the Salvation Army afterward. It was simple and very moving.

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I received this picture years ago and have no idea where it is from any more. I tried finding it on Google but didn’t have any luck. If you know where it is from, let me know and I’ll give proper credit.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving as a tradition

Christianity.com says: the pilgrims never observed an annual Thanksgiving feast in autumn. In the year 1621, they did celebrate a feast near Plymouth, Massachusetts, following their first harvest. But this feast most people refer to as the first Thanksgiving was never repeated.

1621 – Pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated a harvest feast in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
• 1630 – Settlers observed the first Thanksgiving of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in New England on July 8, 1630.
• 1777 – George Washington and his army on the way to Valley Forge, stopped in blistering weather in open fields to observe the first Thanksgiving of the new United States of America.
• 1789 – President Washington declared November 26, 1789, as a national day of “thanksgiving and prayer.”
• 1800s – The annual presidential thanksgiving proclamations ceased for 45 years in the early 1800s.
• 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln resumed the tradition of Thanksgiving proclamations in 1863. Since this date, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
• 1941 – President Roosevelt established the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Read the rest of this entry »

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Mother nature commented on yesterday’s post in her own subtle way. I was driving the truck up to Shoreline today in a wipers-on-high downpour and Rob and Gracie, the dogs, were sleeping in the back seat. Suddenly the rain stopped, the sun came out and the most beautiful rainbow appeared. I can’t believe I left out that wonderful and inspiring manifestation of rain.

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Thanksgiving – Gratitude

Rainy Days

I have made a habit of daily writing for years. Sometimes I journal the day’s events and thoughts, other times I do a “brain dump” of everything that I am thinking about or fretting about, sometimes I write positive affirmations over and over, and sometimes I make a list of things I am grateful for. Yesterday I was running errands in the pouring rain, thinking how much I’d rather be somewhere where it wouldn’t be raining for the next three or four months. Read the rest of this entry »